BulldogTom

Yeah, changing the percentages so that one person can take a loss that he is not entitled to per the partnership agreement comes very close to tax evasion. I think I would have a problem with that. Tom Hollister, CA

Multiple phone calls, multiple e-mails. No response. Just get the answering machine at the OPR office. No response to daily e-mails asking for my new card. I started cc'ing my congressman on my e-mail requests. Won't do any good. I wonder if they are targeting conservative tax preparers now? Maybe I will get a 30 page questionaire asking about the political affiliations of my clients? Tom Hollister, CA

Typically, speaking only in CA, the State Fund auditors are a bit more picky. They tend to do more employee interviews and site visits to verify the information that we provide them. Private insurers generally hire out an outside audit firm. They tend to be a bit more easy to work with. Less field visits and employee interviews. This has just been my experience. BTW - working on my audit papers for my day job company right now. CA and NV payroll. Private insurer. Tom Hollister, CA

Not familiar with NY, so I stayed out of this one. But I have a lot of experience in CA. I have been handling CA w/c audits for the last 15 years. If I can ever be of assistance to you, I would be glad to offer anything I can. Just let me know. Tom Hollister, CA

Agree. He reported more than the 1099 was for. It did not rise to the level of a business. Be ready for the letter from the IRS seeking SE tax, but do nothing right now. Tom Hollister, CA

I would not do that. I would have a slot put in to the side of the house. Those are very sensitive tax docs and you are leaving them outside. If word got around that you had all the information for an identity theif would need sitting in a lock box outside, they would try to steal it. Maybe would not happen in your neck of the woods, but I would not chance it in CA. Just my 2 cents. Tom Hollister, CA

That sure sounds like a racial slur to me, as Mr. Rangel is black. Tom Hollister, CA

Document the rents, put the 1099 on Non-employee comp and then back it out on the return, and report it on rents. Wait for the letter. Send in the documentation. Wait for the response. Answer questionaire about political affiliations with the payer (OK, maybe that won't happen). You will spend less time doing it this way than trying to get the 1099 corrected. Tom Hollister, CA

Eli, Booked my hotel and registration for Dallas IRS Nationwide Tax Forum. Will be staying at the Gaylord Texan. Still need to book my flight, but that will happen in couple days. Hope to see you there. Tom Hollister, CA

You should be very nice to Medlin. He has been a gracious contributor on this board for a very long time and his input on Payroll issues is invaluable to those of us who have been here a long time. His software is known to be very good for the target market he serves. I understand his support is top notch as well. He makes no bones about the market he is after, does not try to please every single potential customer that his software is not a fit for, and, most importantly, does not lie about what his software will or will not do. Be careful how you talk about him and his product. Tom Hollister, CA

This is exactly the type of beta tester they need. The jerks at CCH need to see what their mistakes did to your business. You are the target market their product has served for years. I hope they are smart enough to see, and that you are not so bitter about what they did to you, that you would be selected and they would listen to your input. Crossing my fingers that you are selected. Tom Hollister, CA

John, I am willing to bet joanmcq did not know that. She is not the type to put a statement out there that she knows to be untrue. I don't always agree with her politics, but she has always been a stand up kinda person on this board. Just my 2 cents. Tom Hollister, CA

joanmcq, the are not applying under 501 ( c ) 3, they are applying under 501 ( c ) 4. This has been a scam since the United case handed down by the supreme court. It is a big way to raise funds for your political activities and not have to follow campaign finance laws. It is also a way to reward doners by giving them jobs at these organizations. It has been abused by the right and left, dems and repubs, and independents as well. It is mostly a sham. The issue is that the IRS singled out a group that had one political leaning. They intentionally targeted the right, and in particular the tea party. If it had been every application, I don't think it would smell as bad as it does right now. It also coincided with an election cycle, which is very peculiar. Someone directed those IRS employees to screen those applications the way they did. It could be a manager at Cincinnatti, or someone at IRS in Washington. I don't think some low level civil servant just decided to do this and no one knew what they were doing. In 2011, congress held a hearing and specifically asked Commissioner Shulman (sp?) if they were targeting groups and he said no. He is gone, but the lie is now exposed. If he did not know, he should have investigated at that time. Apparently, sometime in late 2011 or early 2012, the criteria changed from "tea party" to "constitutional education" as the trigger for increased scrutiny. Why did that happen? No one is claiming they made the change in policy. Again, the story is low level IRS employees trying to get through a mountain of paperwork. I don't buy it. Someone at IRS directed this. At what level they were at, I don't know. But it is clear they wanted to target the right. And that is the issue. All we want to know is who directed this to happen. Tom Hollister, CA

Well, if she hadn't fallen over backwards and gotten amnesia when they asked her to testify, we might know. Tom Hollister, CA

I can't wait for the debate when whoever the Republican candidate stands up and throws the famous "3 AM phone call" line at her. It will go something like this: "Mrs. Clinton famously charged that Barry Obama did not have the experience to handle a situation when the phone rings at 3 AM. However, we know know that when Mrs. Clinton got a 3AM phone call regarding Bengazi, she went back to bed and 5 Americans died." There is no way Billery gets past that. She made the wrong call. At a minimum she should have pushed it up to the President. If she did, and is protecting BO, that is even worse. I used to think Hillary would at least be a capable President, even if I don't like her policies. I could never support someone who will not marshall the resources of the US military to the aid of our citizens in service to our country overseas. The dems better find a new standard bearer for their 2016 bid. Ain't gonna happen for Billery. Besides, with the national debt the way it is, we would not be able to afford the cigar bill for the first Husband. Tom Hollister, CA

Do you remember in the first gulf war the spokesman for the Iraqi government? Tanks were outside of Bagdad and the Coalition was about to decimate the entire military. We were about to take the Bagdad airport. This guy stands up and says there is no invasion, that the Iraqi military were beating back the invasion in the desert, and victory for the Iraqi's was certain. Bagdad fell about 12 hours later. Jay Carney reminds me of that guy. Tom Hollister, CA

Apparently the Obama administration, in an attempt to find the leak in the Justice Department, secretly tapped the phones of the Associated Press offices in serveral cities for 2 months. The AP is hopping mad. The issue stems from a report the AP did on a foiled terrorist plot. The AP source revealed top secret information and the Justice Department wanted to know who leaked the information. When the AP would not give its source, they tapped the phones. Our basic constitutional rights are under attack. Big Brother needs to be dialed in. Maybe if the press sees that they are now targets of this out of control government, they will start reporting all the crap that big brother is doing and push the pendulum back the other way. Tom Hollister, CA

Sure they do. They are not lazy, and we are. They work hard, we take handouts. They understand if you don't do well in school they will kick you out. We understand that if teachers don't apply themselves and we don't have to either, you will still graduate. They understand that not having an education means you will starve in the street. We understand that government will hand out a better standard of living than 80% of the world if we just stand in line. And they don't have teachers unions. I think Greece is the only country in the world more spoiled than we are. Tom Hollister, CA

They don't have liberal teachers unions that suck up all the public funding with no accountability. Tom Hollister, CA

Ken, Weren't you part of the beta testing or group input for ATX last year? Or was it someone else on the board? Have you ever beta tested for them? Tom Hollister, CA

I believe what the states (especially my screwed up beautiful money hungry totalitarian state of CA) want is the ability to get more businesses under their tax umbrella. If you are paying sales tax in a state, they can now audit your books (ever been through a CA sales tax audit? there is no such thing as a no-change audit here - they always get a payment when they come to audit). In addition, by paying the sales tax, you are admitting that you are doing business in the state. That opens you up to additional regulations. And when they audit your books, and they find out who is purchasing those items, they can use that data to go audit the purchaser. It is a money grab on the part of the states. It won't stop at sales tax. Tom Hollister, CA

Come on Jainen. You can't believe that. They targeted tea party applications in the middle of an election year. It stopped when the election was over. Denials went on all the way until the truth came out. Then they issue an apology and say it was low level line workers. No democratic or liberal leaning organizations got the same "extra examination". This thing stinks of politics. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, it is most likely a duck. Tom Hollister, CA

I am shocked that they are admiting it. The denials that it went all the way to the top of the IRS smells. On the other hand, I think these "non-profits" are mostly political and not social welfare, regardless of the political point of view they have. So I can see why the IRS is checking them out closely. In a way, I would like to see all politics banned from any non-profit organization. Then the IRS could deny their status if they show any political activity. However, targeting one political group is totally wrong and heads should roll for this. But they won't. Tom Hollister, CA

There is a very good artilce on MSN today about the IRS apologizing for targeting Tea Party exempt organizations. They admit they did it, but deny anyone knew about it. I don't post links, but you can go to the website and see it on the money page. Tom Hollister, CA

A national sales tax is a stupid idea. The republic of ca is never going to cede their sales tax to Washington. It would be just another tax. Only someone with a leaning towards Rachel Maddow would really think that is a good idea. Tom Hollister, CA